1. Field of the Invention
The subject of the invention relates to an improved surface glaze composition for bakery goods and a method of producing a surface glaze for application on edible bakery products which can be used as a substitute for an egg wash.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Glazes have long been used in the production of bakery products such as bread, rolls or pastries. A common practice in the bakery industry has been to use an egg wash to provide to provide an attractive glaze. Egg washes have many disadvantages. There is a bacterial problem inherent in the handling and application of raw eggs to the surface of baked products. Moreover, egg washes must be brushed on by hand which is a labor intensive procedure. The search for a suitable egg wash substitute has been ongoing for sometime. However, such products have not replaced the egg wash. Many of the substitutes have stability problems and must be refrigerated or used shortly after they have been prepared.
Many of the egg wash substitutes proposed in the prior art include proteins, often milk based protein which can contribute to the stability problems. Such proteins are also undesirable since there are people allergic to such added proteins. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,721 (Holscher).
Glazes containing maltodextrin have also been proposed. However, such products can become tacky in certain uses. Also such product can add unnecessary additional calories to the finished product. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,586 (Feller) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,161 (Smith).
The present invention is directed to an improved composition for producing a glaze for bakery products which is a suitable substitute for an egg wash. According to the invention, a protein free glaze forming composition is provided which is storage stable at room temperature. The glaze forming composition according to the invention includes water, a modified food starch, one or more antibacterial preservatives, a vegetable gum, an alginate and an edible food grade acid. The resulting composition is storage stable at room temperature. It is protein and milk free. It is also sugar free. In use, the surface glaze is sprayed on the bakery product either before or after baking to provide a high gloss shine. The surface glaze composition according to the invention is particularly useful on pies to provide a glaze that is crack resistant and on baked products with flaky crusts.
The product can be easily applied to the baked goods by spraying. When applied to the bakery goods, the composition dries to form a shiny glaze. The surface glaze forming composition provides a desirable egg wash substitute.
It is an object of the invention to provide a dairy free egg wash substitute for baked goods.
It is an object of the invention to provide a protein free egg wash substitute.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that is storage stable at room temperature.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that has a shelf life of one (1) year or longer at room temperature.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that is sprayable as an aerosol.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that can be hand pump sprayed.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that can be used on baked goods with flaky crusts.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that provides a shine on pies without cracking the crust.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that can be used either before or after freezing of the bakery product.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that can be used either before or after baking.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute that does not become tacky in an unperforated plastic bag.
It is an object of the invention to provide an egg wash substitute to provide a low calorie egg wash substitute.
Other and further objects will be apparent from the following detail description of the invention.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the drawings and examples. However, it should be expressly understood that the present invention should not be limited solely to the illustrative embodiments.